1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to coin counters and particularly to coin counters for use in totalling the monetary value of the coins in a cash register drawer.
2. Description of Related Art
When cashiers in a commercial establishment change shifts, go on breaks, or change cash registers, it is typically necessary for the outgoing cashier to total up the amount of money in their cash register drawer and for the incoming cashier to verify that total. At worst this process involves manually counting each coin in the cash register drawer twice, once by the outgoing cashier and once by the incoming cashier to verify. At best, customers are still made to wait for a somewhat lesser period of time or temporarily relocated to other lines when a cash drawer is being counted, causing delays in servicing customers. This situation causes stress for both customers and cashiers. Thus, there is a need for a compact portable device that will quickly and accurately total the amount of cash in a cash register drawer.
Devices addressing this problem are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,264, issued to Ira Gross on Mar. 14, 1995, discloses a cash drawer coin counter that rests on top of a cash register drawer during counting and deposits coins into compartments corresponding to denomination after counting. The invention described in Gross '264 returns coin to the compartments in the a cash register drawer with a single motion. Other patents disclosing devices designed to count coins in a cash register drawer include British Patent Numbers 2,038,064 and 2,224,142, published on Jul. 16, 1980 and Apr. 25, 1990 respectively.
Although known devices enable the counting and totalling of cash in a cash register drawer more quickly than if that cash were counted entirely by hand, the amount of time necessary to complete this procedure is still inconveniently long. Thus, there is a need for a coin counting device designed for use at cash registers that is faster than the previously known devices. Additionally, there are some practical considerations that known devices fail to address.
For example, as coins wear out, their thickness decreases. This causes reading errors in devices that utilize graduated columns. Since worn coins are thinner than new coins, devices that determine the number of coins in :a column based on the height of that column systematically underestimate the true number of coins in the column when the column contains a large number of well worn coins. Thus, there is a need for a coin counting device that will accurately count the number of coins in a stack regardless of whether those coins are freshly minted or well worn.
Further, devices that operate strictly on the basis of graduation marks are incapable of totalling the monetary value of all denominations of coins combined. Such devices require the additional time consuming step of manually adding up the monetary total of the various denominations of coins. In addition to the extra time involved in such a calculation, it also provides the opportunity for human error in arithmetic. Thus, there is a need for a coin counting device that automatically totals the individual totals.
Many known devices require coins to be manually replaced in their respective compartments after being counted. Such devices add yet another time consuming step in the process of a cashier change. Thus, there is a need for a cash drawer counting device that automatically deposits coins of various denominations back into their respective compartments after counting and totalling the contents of the cash drawer.
Other coin counting devices have different problems. For example, if pennies, nickels or dimes fall into a column of quarters, or pennies fall into a column of nickels, then those coins may be counted as quarters or nickels respectively, thus overcounting the cash in the drawer and shorting the incoming cashier. Conversely, if dimes fall into a column of pennies or nickels, then the dimes may be counted as pennies or nickels respectively, thus undercounting the cash in the drawer and shorting the outgoing cashier. In order to prevent such errors in devices that operate by graduated columns, each column must be visually inspected coin by coin prior to totalling the monetary value of the coinage. Without such a visual inspection coins of one denomination could be improperly counted as coins of another denomination. This visual inspection is time consuming and susceptible to human error. Thus, there is a need for a device that automatically detects errors in stacking coins of various denominations and alerts the user as to the presence of the error.
Devices designed for vending machines, coin sorters, or other change making machines are useful to show different types of coin sensors that are known. The following patents all show devices related to vending machines, coin sorters, or change making machines: U.S. Pat. Nos. 936,122, issued to Conrad A. Grimm on Oct. 5, 1909; U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,110,771, issued to James B. Grimes on Sep. 15,1914; 1,166,302 issued to Hyman Abramovitz on Dec. 28, 1915; U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,914, issued to Lelyn D. Lake on Mar. 14, 1967; U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,993, issued to Edward J. Tyron et al. on Dec. 26, 1967; U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,688, issued to Alfred Cohn et al. on Dec. 23, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,434, issued to Kenkichi Watanabe et al. on Aug. 9, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,669, issued to Carl L. Vogt on Apr. 22, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,003, issued to Elwood E. Barnes et al. on Jul. 17, 1984; U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,140, issued to David Eglise et al. on Jan. 1, 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,984, issued Lo Joseph L. Levasseur et al. on May 13, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,767, issued to Michiyasu Hikita on Mar. 3, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,841, issued to Neville D. Chadwick on Oct. 4, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,158, issued to Osamu Kobayashi et al. on Nov. 28, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,538, issued to Naoto Satoh on Oct. 1, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,816, issued to Joseph LT. Levasseur on Mar. 3, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,242, issued to Sadao Matsumoto et al. on Jan. 10, 1995; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,944, issued to John A. Weston et al. on Mar. 19, 1996; British Patent Numbers 1,231,427, published on May 12, 1971; 1,373,135, published on Nov. 6, 1974; 2,154,352, published on Sep. 4, 1985; and 2,269,088, published on Feb. 2, 1994; and European Patent Numbers 189,429, published on May 17, 1985; 314,463, published on May 3, 1989; and 512,938, published on Nov. 11, 1992.
None of the above inventions arid patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.